Picture: Martin Kaufhold
Jekyll & Hyde continues at the English Theatre Frankfurt until 4 March 2018.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Two years after a great production of The Life which made its long overdue European premiere at the English Theatre Frankfurt before the Southwark Playhouse, the venue has again made the right choice by putting together a first-rate production of a too rarely done musical.
Premiering successfully on Broadway in 1997 after recordings and regional productions had already earned it a cult status, Jekyll & Hyde has become known for being the only musical theatre appearance of Broadway recording star Linda Eder, wife of composer Frank Wildhorn at the time, and for the DVD capture starring TV star David Hasselhoff, who took over for Robert Cuccioli later in the run.
The updated revival with more modern orchestrations was a dismal flop on Broadway in 2013 after its national tour and there has never been a London production, only some tours, one of them starring Marti Pellow.
This new production with an entirely English cast and creative team uses the more modern orchestrations and such risqué songs.
‘Bring On the Men’, which was not used in the Broadway version, complete with provocative Fosse-esque choreography and two male dancers in drag amount the girls, features instead of the softer ‘No One Knows Who I Am’ as the song introducing the character of Lucy the prostitute.
The gap between the seriousness of the gothic and morbid subject matter and the sentimentality of the songs has often been pointed out, yet they do move the plot forward and, especially in this version, are more acted than sung in pop chart fashion.
True, some of them, such as ‘Someone Like You’ always had hit potential, but what’s wrong with songs that can have life beyond the shows they are from?
Wildhorn’s score has often been dismissed as cheap or cheesy but in truth his songs are just simple, highly melodic and hummable. Leslie Bricusse’s book and lyrics are just as well written, digging deep into the complexity and ambiguity of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novellas reflecting the Victorian struggle of the double self, relevant of a society caught up in morality and virtue, dismissing as sinful all things pleasurable.
If the show has never been as good as this it is thanks to the clever direction of Tom Littler, artistic director of the Jermyn Street Theatre, served by an outstanding cast with the brilliant John Addison in the title role.
Addison is simply phenomenal and registers all the layers of this complex and vocally demanding double role, stopping the show with his rendition of the 11 o’clock solo ‘Confrontation’, despite a slightly less effective staging than for the Broadway version.
Clodagh Long as Lucy and Samantha Dorsey as Emma, his fiancée, offer younger and more vulnerable alternatives to Eder and Christiane Noll, the Broadway divas who originated these roles and delivered the moving duet ‘In His Eyes’.
The supporting cast, including Matt Bond as Lord Savage, Will Arundell as Simon Stride and Mario Frendo as the Bishop of Basingstoke, is equally spectacular, as are ensemble members Ed Parry and Jessica Singer, doubling as musicians to good effect. They join the efficient six-piece orchestra visible above the circular stage.
Like Wildhorn’s subsequent cold-blooded murder musical Bonnie & Clyde, Jekyll & Hyde would clearly deserve to be produced on or Off West End and this innovative Frankfurt version would be the best of all potential transfers to introduce at last this underrated and overlooked piece to London audiences.
Otherwise the best option is to run to the English Theatre Frankfurt where the sold out run has been extended to 4 March.
Patrick Honoré
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